There’s something very mysterious about this picture; the obscuring smoke, the dissociation between the guy’s very hip clothes and the outdoorsy-family setting, the little girl’s innocently pretty sparkling dress. It’s like a beautiful illustration to a very strange children’s story. One of the most haunting pictures posted so far. I wonder what the atmosphere was like that afternoon? Well done Sart.

Great photo, Scott! I am sure the puritan Americans will scold you for featuring a cigarette smoker (O the horror!), but I like it. Cigarettes are great at setting a mood or conveying attitude, which this young photographic professional does to singular effect. Not a fan of his tight trousers. I do think he looks a bit like Jarvis Cocker or Ian Curtis, with elfin ears. Broken biscuits, indeed.

soignee said… hm, this is more about the photograph than the man’s style, non?

1:13 PM

“the photograph” (by which i assume you mean his posture, the smoke, etc) IS the man’s style. fashion, clothes, what we wear, should be a marriage of “the photograph” which is our life (oh coco chanel, enlighten us) and the clothes on our backs. you need “the photograph” in order to make art out of the sartorial.

the smoke gives some kind of alure to the person behind it. we can barely see his face, which makes it quite misterious, but we can make out enough to understand this mans face… but not clearly… i like it!

I’m trying to figure out his his …ensemble works. Cropped shirt with athletic pants with gray waistband? Cropped shirt with longer grey undershirt? Pants with improvised cummerbund into which shirt is tucked?

two words…OH MY! this man is a god – for all the clueless men out there, this is who to take inspiration from. the obligatory ciggie is an unexpected accessory, and the smoke creates a certain mystery. Simply divine, Sart.

I like misshapes and he can afford it. the too short sleves, the shirt without collar, the tank under the shirt, the hand holding the cigaret, BUT above all the little pink, blond, neat girl with the sparkling skirt.

It’s an extrordinary picture, truly. The great thing about it is that you can gather the guy’s attitude and sense of self without seeing his face, which is incredible. I love it, and his clothes aren’t half bad either. What’s suprising is the relatively few “no smoking” comments! Maybe I’ve just jinxed it, but maybe a lot more people are able to separate art from health issues (never the two shall meet, I say).

I am as much against the promotion of smoking as your other commenters, but this is a terrific image–I don’t even care about the clothes–and I love how the background is like a snippet of Seurat’s “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jette”.

And speaking of smoking and France…I always thought the French ate with their left hands so they could smoke with their right–but my Paris friends tell me now that smoking will be banned in French restaurants beginning January 1. Hooray!

“But trust me, The Misshapes could care less about what you think. How is it that know one here knows who this is? Fashion oriented people, that is”

“Misshapes is a band… a bunch of hipsters love these guys”

The Misshapes were over a long long time ago … any N.Y kid with originality & sense stopped going a couple years ago. Thats why their weekly Sat nite died a few months ago – it became far to commercial & the true cool kids left ages ago. They should have all left for London where the underground scene doesn’t become commercial – Boombox has been running forever & still as cutting edge as when it began – Misshapes should have taken note on how to do it properly.

Jaded and jaundiced ain’t never good looks, mr or mz anonymous – and that’s a ‘fashion-oriented’ opinion from one who does know very well who Scott Meriam is…and who thinks his identity is totally irrelevant to the arresting vision i see before me. Smoke that – and despite that longest sentence on the planet, i do mean it in friendliness…come on – a good look is a good look!

what i meant is that i am more impressed by the aspects of the photo–lighting, composition–than i am by what the person is wearing. the photographer made the photo interesting here, not the man’s style. shrunken blazers and wrinkled white shirts alone is not a compelling visual to me.

anna-lyssa-with-a-name,yes, indeedy, you are right to laud the photographer’s lovely and arresting image without falling prey to the allure of the indie-kid as I -ahem- have been. Point well made…perhaps I should cure myself of loving mismatch styling wherever and on whoever I find it…but massive clash, asymmetry and general sartorial muddle is in vogue for the first time in decades (feels like) and I’m going to enjoy it! Yours, in a conscious mess…

i like this photograph, because of how you can’t see his face and i like how he seems to carry himself. the outfit is mediochre, though, i think what makes it work is his lanky frame and, again, how he carries himself. good light.

Forget what this guy looks like – I am in love with this photo! It reminds me of the other smoking photo you shot a while ago – with the 2 young women in Paris. You have a way of capturing beautiful imagery of smokers – and I’m not even a smoker!